The Chandigarh police arrested a man on August 13 for allegedly killing a 98-year-old woman. Reportedly, the accused has lost his job during the lockdown owing to Covid 19 following which he decided to rob the woman.
Identified as Kailash Bhatt, a 31-year-old cook killed 98-year-old Joginder Kaur inside her home in Sector 8 on August 6. As per police, he had thought of the woman as an easy target to rob, however, she tried to raise an alarm following which he murdered her.
During the robbery attempt, the woman's throat was allegedly slit.
According to police, the accused was in financial distress thus planned to break into a house to steal money and valuables to make ends meet. He first checked through all of Sector 8's nearby areas before focusing on Joginder Kaur, who used to live alone in her home.
Following that, he began keeping a close eye on Kaur's domestic help and noting their activities. He noticed that Kaur's domestic help went for a 30-45 minute evening stroll every day at 6.30 p.m and chose this window to carry out the robbery.
The woman was found dead by the house help who returned home after a 2-hour walk. A murder case was filed at Sector 3 police station following the incident.
Bhatt is a native of Uttarakhand's Almora said to be worked as a cook in a house in Sector 15. According to authorities, the culprit had left the kitchen knife used in the crime on the scene.
Also Read: Bodies of two women recovered from drain in UP's Meerut, investigation on
According to police, they scanned CCTV footage and mobile phone data to find vital clues in the investigation. The 'human intelligence,' on the other hand, helped them in solving the case. According to the SSP, police spoke with residents and their domestic workers, who all pointed to Bhatt's involvement in the murder.
Bhatt was apprehended at a nearby Sector by a police team led by Inspector Satinder Singh and SI Sunil Kumar.
“Bhatt lost his job after people stopped hiring cooks during the initial wave of Covid-19 spread,” stated Inspector Satinder Singh. "During this time, his wife had also given birth to a child. He had taken a loan to pay for his wife's treatment. His bike's instalments were also pending.”
According to sources, before Covid-19, Bhatt was earning sufficient to make ends meet. He started working as a part-time cook in Sector 15 after losing his job, but the money was insufficient. Bhatt, his wife, and their 18-month-old son were staying in the servant quarter of a house in Sector 8, according to police.
Joginder Kaur has two children, both settled abroad.